Determined to win the browser war, Google has decided to literally jump on board Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, in a move that will ruffle the feathers of Microsoft management.
Touted as a Google frame plug in the search giant has developed an application that allows Google’s Chrome browser to sit inside Microsoft Explorer and poach users as they use the Microsoft application.
Google claims that the application boosts the speed of IE, which, according to critics, loads web pages too slowly, and to help IE to handle more sophisticated web applications.
In response Microsoft has labelled the application a security risk and is now writing software that will disable the Google application according to sources.
According to the UK Times the spat is the latest in the continuing browser war between the companies that began a year ago when Google launched its Chrome browser to much fanfare. But the program has made slow progress in terms of market share, with Microsoft’s IE still way out in front.
Early next year the war between Microsoft and Google is set to intensify when Google launches Chrome OS to vendors. The software which will take on the new Windows 7 is set to be popular with hardware vendors as it is free and will allow then to sell a notebook or PC complete with the Google software at up to $95 cheaper than a Windows based PC.
For Google, its Chrome browser is part of a bigger plan to challenge Microsoft’s dominance in the computer software market
Eric Schmidt, the Google chief executive, confirmed to the Times yesterday that the Chrome browser and Chrome operating system would be linked in the company’s efforts to move consumers away from paid-for software programs such as Microsoft’s Office suite to Google applications hosted on Google’s servers.
SmartHouse recently reported that Google has signed a deal with Sony to install Chrome on certain Sony PCs, allowing it to reach a potentially new pool of users. Similar deals with other big PC manufacturers are expected to be announced soon.
Chrome had 3.2 per cent of the market share in September, up from 2.8 per cent the month before, according to Net Applications, which tracks browser usage through 40,000 websites. Google says that Chrome has 30 million users worldwide.
Internet Explorer slipped from 67 per cent to 65.7 per cent of users. The next most popular browser is Mozilla’s Firefox, with 23.8 per cent, up from 23 per cent. Apple’s Safari rose from 4.1 per cent to 4.2 per cent.
